Let Love In's Challenge
by xXLittle Rose AngelXx
Summary: A series of fifteen one-shots for Let Love In's Challenge in the Harvest Moon Challenges forum
1. Porcelain Doll

_**This story is for Let Love In's Challenge in the Harvest Moon challenge forum. The challenge: To create a series of fifteen one-shots including a certain word or words. Here is the first one-shot.**_

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon  
_

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**Porcelain Doll**

**Word: **Porcelain

Popuri sighed when she saw all the mess on the floor of her room. But she had to clean it. Her mother had asked her to. Her mother had been sick for years now, but today she was looking particularly bad.

"I wish he'd come back with a cure for mother soon," Popuri said to herself. But she wished this every day, and every day the wish seemed to become more and more unlikely to come true.

Sighing again, she tidied her room and then turned on the vacuum cleaner. She pushed and pulled it around her room, sucking up all the bits of dust and dirt. She pushed it under her bed to suck up any of the dust and dirt down there, and then felt it hit something.

The pink haired girl turned off the vacuum and climbed under her bed. She felt around in the darkness for the thing the vacuum had hit. She found it. Popuri climbed out from under the bed, holding a pink box.

"Where did this come from?"

She opened it and gasped. Inside was a beautiful porcelain doll. It had a long, flowing blue dress and blonde ringlets. Popuri ran her fingers over the dolls face, enjoying the feel of the smooth surface.

"When did I get this?" she asked herself. Then she remembered the day two years ago…

_"Popuri!" called Lillia as Popuri walked through the door. "There's a package for you." _

_Popuri ran over excitedly. No one ever sent mail to her. "Who's it from?"_

_"I don't know," said Lillia. "There's no name."_

_Popuri eagerly ripped open the package, and out came a beautiful porcelain doll._

_"Oh mum," she said. "It's beautiful."_

_Lillia was silent._

_"Mum?" Popuri looked up to see tears in Lillia's eyes. _

_"Mum, what's wrong?" exclaimed Popuri. Lillia shook her head._

_"Oh…don't worry…"_

_Popuri worried. "Mum?"_

_"The doll is just like one that Rod bought me when we got married. The one I lost." _

_Popuri sniffed. "Oh." _

_After a moment of silence, Popuri said, "I miss dad."_

_"Me too, Poppy," said Lillia. "Me too." _

_"Poppy…That's what he called me," said Popuri. "That's what I'll call my porcelain doll. Poppy." _

"Poppy," breathed Popuri. It was the only thing left that reminded her of her father, even though she didn't know who it was from.

"Poppy," she said again, hugging the doll.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice. Popuri turned around to see Rick standing at the door.

"Where'd you get that from?" he asked.

Popuri handed the doll to Rick. "Remember?"

Rick shook his head. Popuri sighed.

"The anonymous package…"

Rick gasped. "I didn't know you still had this."

The two siblings looked at the doll. Just like the doll that Rod gave Lillia. The only thing they had left to remind them

Popuri sniffed, a tear running down her cheek. "I miss dad."

Rick put his hand on her back. "Me too."

***

"MUM!" squealed Popuri. "Mum, look!"

Lillia sat up and Popuri handed her the porcelain doll.

"Rod," breathed Lillia. Tears filled her eyes. "Oh it reminds me so much of Rod."

"I want you to have it," said Popuri. "Because it's just like the doll you lost.

Lillia took the doll's porcelain hand, rubbing her thumb over it. "Rod…"

Then, the hand came off.

"NO!" cried Popuri, snatching back the doll. Her right hand was now missing. "Oh no…"

Then Lillia gasped. The doll's hand was hollow, and inside was a piece of paper.

"Read it," said Lillia.

Popuri scanned the piece of paper and gasped.

"What?" Lillia asked.

"It says…

_Dear Popuri,_

_I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long. I haven't found a cure yet, but I will find it, I promise. I miss you dearly. This is to make up for the birthdays I have missed._

_Rick, I hope you are looking after the chickens well. I miss you too. Take care of your mother and sister for me. We need a man around the house._

_Lillia, I will find you a cure, I promise. I miss you so much. I wish I was back there with you. Take care, and I will be back. I love you._

_Love your father,_

_Or your husband, in Lillia's case"_

Lillia and Popuri stared at the piece of paper. Rick came in, read it, and then joined the unmoving group. Tears filled their eyes. That letter may have been two years late, but it meant so much.

Popuri hugged her doll. "Dad."

The porcelain doll really was from him. And that made it all the more special.

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_**I hope you liked it. **_


	2. A Daffodil and Memories

_**I'd just like to say a quick thank you to Neko-lily, Shimmerleaf, Let Love In, MakingAprilxx, Manderzchi and Seruh.x for reviewing my first one-shot. Your reviews are appreciated. Here is the next one-shot.**_

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harvest Moon.  
_

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**A Daffodil and Memories **

**Word: **Daffodil

Ann twists the daffodil over in her hand, letting her tears drop onto it. She remembers the day they met…

_Ann wandered around near the hot spring, breathing in the fresh morning air. She closed her eyes and stood at the edge of the Goddess pond, listening to the wind rustling the leaves._

_"MAX! MAX!"_

_She opened her eyes and looked around. She was alone, but she could have sworn she heard someone yelling._

_"MAX!" _

_She was sure she heard it. Then she heard a dog bark, and a puppy came running in, followed by a young man in overalls. _

_"MAX!" he called, and kept running after the puppy. He ran next to the Goddess pond, but the ground gave way beneath his feet, and he fell in. Kicking and thrashing about, he yelled for someone to help. Ann laughed and reached out to the clumsy young man. He gripped her hand tightly and she pulled him out. _

_"Thanks," he said, blushing, as he wrung out his shirt._

_Ann giggled. "I haven't seen you around here before." _

_"No, I just moved here from the city to take over the ranch. I'm Jack." He took off his hat politely, but his hat was filled with water that poured all over his head. Ann cracked up laughing._

_"Ann," she managed to say between fits of laughter. _

Ann giggles as she remembers Jack's clumsiness. Jack came to see her every day. He loves the food at the inn. She remembers that day, just over a season after they met…

_"Hey Jack!" said Ann._

_"Hi Ann," said Jack. "Are…are you busy?"_

_Ann looked at the dirty dishes on the table. "Umm, no, I'm not busy." _

_"Well, good, because I was wondering if…you know…maybe…if you wanted to…go to the beach with me?" _

_Ann's face lit up. "Like a date?"_

_"Well…if you want it to be…" _

_"Of course!" said Ann, linking her arm with Jack's. Together they walked off to the beach. Jack tripped on the first stair and tumbled down onto the warm sand._

_"You klutz," said Ann, helping him up. They ran around on the sand and waded into the water, laughing until the sun went down._

Ann sighs. That was one of the most enjoyable days she had ever had. Her other most enjoyable would have to be their date later that year. She remembers…

_Ann and Jack wandered around near Goddess pond, and around the bottom of Mother's Hill. They wandered over to the sparkling lake and knelt beside it. _

_"Beautiful, huh?" said Jack. Ann nodded. _

_Jack gently put his fingertips into the water. Without warning, he put his hand in and splashed Ann._

_"HEY!" she yelled. "You…are…so…DEAD!" _

_She reached down to splash him, and he splashed her back before running. Ann chased him, laughing. _

_He turned around to see how far away she was from him, and tripped over his own feet._

_"JACK!" gasped Ann, as she watched him face plant into the grass. After a few seconds he stuck up his hand and gave her the thumbs up to show that he was OK. Ann laughed and ran over._

_Jack got up onto his knees and wiped the dirt off his face. He had landed right in front of a yellow daffodil. He picked it off the ground and handed it to Ann._

_"For you." _

_Ann helped him to his feet and whispered, "For you," before pressing her lips against his. This was their first kiss. Jack jumped when their lips met, but then relaxed and shut his eyes. _

_Once they separated, Jack said softly, "I love you." _

_"I love you too." _

Ann runs her fingers over the yellow daffodil, the daffodil he had given her the day when they finally told each other how they feel. She decides that that was the best day of her life. Then why, why had she been so stupid? She remembers what had happened, only three hours ago…

_It was late afternoon in summer. Ann and Jack lay on the beach, relaxing. A boat sails to the dock and Zack hops out and puts his hand out. A petite blonde girl took his hand and stepped gracefully off the boat. Jack gasped as she walked across the beach._

_"No…way…" he said, standing up. The blonde girl turned to him._

_"Jack?" _

_"Claire, is that you?" _

_"Oh my goddess, it's you! JACK!" _

_She ran over and wrapped her arms around him. "Goddess, you've grown." _

_"And look at you," said Jack. "You're even more beautiful than before." _

_Ann stared at the blonde girl, jealous of her looks. Her hair was perfect, not a hair out of place. She wore a mini skirt and a bikini top. That was no surprise, it was so hot. _

_"Ann," said Jack. "This is Claire, my ex-girlfriend. Claire, this is Ann."_

_"Pleased to meet you," said Claire. _

_"Pleased to meet you," said Ann._

_"I'll go get us something cold from Kai's shack," said Jack. _

_Claire kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thanks. I've missed you." _

_Once Jack had gone into the shack, Ann's face turned as red as her hair._

_"I see exactly what you're trying to do!" she said._

_"What?" Claire asked innocently._

_"You're trying to steal Jack off of me!" _

_Claire gasped. "No, I'm not…"_

_"OH I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO!" Ann yelled. "BUT YOU WON'T STEAL HIM OFF OF ME! Oh no, he's mine. So BACK OFF!" _

_Claire backed away and Jack walked out to see Ann yelling at her._

_"ANN!" _

_Claire was in tears when Jack ran over. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" he snapped. _

_"She was trying to steal you from me!" said Ann, her face returning to its normal colour. _

_"Steal me from you?" repeated Jack. "What, and you own me now? Besides, Claire is _married!_"_

_Claire nodded. "And I have been for almost a year now." _

_Only then did Ann realise what she had done. She looked from Jack to the frightened girl in his arms. Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, "Oh goddess, I'm so sorry. I…" She didn't finish. She turned and ran._

Fresh tears fill Ann's eyes and land on the daffodil. She has been lying in her room since she came back from the beach. The tears have not stopped.

"I'm such an idiot," she whispers. A single petal falls off the daffodil and floats lightly to the ground.

"He probably hates me."

She listens to the happy people downstairs. She rolls over and allows more tears run down her cheeks. She hears footsteps come up the stairs and hears them stop at the door to her bedroom. She turns around and gasps at what she sees. There stands Jack, holding a blue feather.

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	3. Priceless Treasure

_**Thanks for reviewing, fdsad, fdsaga (I'm guessing you're the same person but I'll put both names down anyway) and Neko-Lily.**_

_**Neko-Lily: I've never considered that pairing before, but I'll see if I can fit it in to one of my next fics.**_

_**Disclaimer: **Nope, I don't own Harvest Moon.  
_

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**Priceless Treasure **

**Word: **Lock and Key

Mary and Claire had never really been friends. They had been polite to each other, respecting each other and saying hello when they passed each other. That was until they discovered that they were both crushing on Gray.

The two girls had then become worst enemies. They had both set up plans to get Gray to like them instead of the other, all of which had failed. At one point, the two girls and Gray had all ended up in the library, and they had resorted to literally pulling Gray as if he was a tug-o-war toy.

"GRAY LIKES ME BETTER!" Claire had yelled, pulling one of Gray's arms.

"Oh, you wish!" Mary had said back, pulling Gray's other arm. This had gone on for almost five minutes, with poor Gray practically being ripped apart until he finally yelled at the two girls. He told them that he didn't like either of them, and so when Kai left at the end of summer, Gray left too, but unlike Kai, he never came back. And obviously, the two girls blamed each other.

"It's OBVIOUS he left because he hates you," Claire had said. "I mean, honestly, you're some ugly four-eyed nerd."

"That's harsh Claire," Mary had replied. "And it's all a lie. You know he left because of you. Why would he love some ugly farmer?"

This had resulted in a cat-fight in the village square, where Mary's parents had to drag Mary off Claire. Both girls were covered in bruises and scratches, but they still screamed and called each other names until Mary's parents dragged Mary back to the library, where she was grounded for a season. Claire never went to the library again. She kept away from Mary as much as possible. And Mary never went to any of the festivals, in case Claire would be there. Although she hated Claire so much, she regretted hurting her. She was better than that, yet she still got into a cat fight which was just as much her fault as it was Claire's.

***

The summer's sun was hot on her back. Sweat dripped down her forehead. Why had she chosen to be a farmer? It was so hard.

Claire hoed square after square of field, so she could plant her seeds. Her arms felt weak and sore. But she was determined, and she wasn't going to give up.

She lifted her hoe into the air and brought it down on a square of field.

_CLUNK! _

_That's odd, _thought Claire. _The ground isn't supposed to make a clunking sound._

She bent down and studied the hoed patch of dirt. It looked normal, so she stood up. Then she saw something glint in the light. A small amount of gold was visible in the dirt. Heart beating fast, she brushed the dirt away and dragged out a relatively heavy golden box. There was a rusty lock on it. She pulled at it, but it wasn't rusty enough to break and let her into the box. She ran her fingers across the lid of the box, and found a small compartment on the lid. She opened it and found an old piece of paper.

_A priceless treasure, near impossible to find_

_Follow a series of clues _

_Books_

_The library, _Claire thought with a sigh. _Books in a library, the first clue will be in the library. _

Claire hadn't seen Mary in a year. But this priceless treasure, it would be a dream come true. So, she decided she would go to the library, but she wouldn't make eye-contact with Mary.

***

As Claire entered the library, Mary was instantly alert. She took a deep breath, and tried to be nice.

"Can I help you?"

Claire ignored her and wandered over to the bookshelf. She started at the first book, flicking through the pages to see if anything fell out, and then throwing the book on the floor.

"HEY!" snapped Mary, picking up the books. "Stop it!"

Around the tenth book, a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Claire picked it up excitedly.

_Sand and Boulder _

_The beach, _thought Claire. _It must mean a boulder at the beach._

Not making eye contact with Mary, she rushed outside. Suspicious, Mary quietly followed.

Claire made it to the beach and spied around until she saw a large boulder. _Maybe it's covering something up, _thought Claire. She rushed to the boulder, and pushed. It didn't budge. She gathered up all her strength and pushed again. It barely moved.

_I need help. _

"What on earth are you doing?" said Mary, coming out from her hiding spot. "First you trash my library, and now you're pushing some random boulder. And what's that you're holding?"

"None of you're business," panted Claire, pushing the boulder again. Mary walked over and snatched the gold box from Claire. She read the note.

"A priceless treasure," she said, imagining what she could do with it.

"It's mine," hissed Claire. "Get lost."

"We could halve it," suggested Mary.

"Not going to happen," replied Claire, heaving at the boulder again.

"Well obviously you're not going to move that boulder alone."

Claire sighed. Mary was right. And besides, half the treasure was better than none.

"Fine," said Claire. Mary grinned and hurried over. Together the two girls managed to push the boulder just enough to be able to fit behind it. They squeezed through the gap and entered a mine.

"I didn't know we had a mine here," said Mary.

Claire didn't reply. She was too busy staring at the key wobbling on top of a small ledge. Mary followed her gaze to see the gold key.

"I'll get it," said Mary, running to the corner of the mine. The key was already falling off the ledge. Mary reached out to catch it, Claire chasing after the key as well. Then the ground gave way beneath Mary's feet, and she fell. She just managed to grab onto a ledge, but she was slipping. She saw a rock fall into the darkness, and it was a while before she heard it hit the ground. It was a long way down.

Claire heard Mary's scream, and it was like everything was happening in slow motion. She wanted the key more than anything, but she couldn't save Mary and catch the key. But why worry if she's your worst enemy?

Mary could see Claire's eyes, locked on the key. _I'm going to die, _she thought. _She won't save me. _

Mary closed her eyes, her fingers slipping from the ledge one by one.

_Goodbye, _she thought, and she slipped.

Claire dived forward and grabbed Mary's hand. Mary opened her eyes, and saw the golden key falling into the darkness. Claire hauled Mary out of the hold, and Mary sat, panting.

"You saved me," she said finally. "You gave up the key."

"I couldn't let you die."

"I'm sorry I was so mean to you," said Mary. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too," said Claire. She picked up the box by the lock.

_CRACK!_

The lock fell off, even without the key. Mary and Claire's eyes lit up as they opened the box. They were disappointed. The box was empty.

"Where's the priceless treasure?" asked Claire, but Mary grinned.

"We found the priceless treasure, Claire," she said. "We found friendship. And that's worth more than all the treasure in the world."

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	4. Secret Stash

_**Hi everyone. Yes, I'm back. I'm soooooo sorry that it took so long. You would not believe how much work I have with school. Thanks Blastie, Neko-Lily and Kali-Chan666 for reviewing. **_

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon.  
_

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**Secret Stash **

**Word: **Diamonds

I wanted to move somewhere warm. I wanted to start a new life. I wanted to make new friends, have fun, and maybe start a family. When I got on the boat to my new town, I didn't expect a storm. I didn't expect the boat to crash on a nearly uninhabited island. And I definitely didn't expect to be assigned the job of a farmer.

Well, that was before I discovered how much fun a farmer could have.

It had been just a year since my boat had crashed on Sunny Island. Winter was over, and it was time to revive the farmyard. I was planting a few different spring plants in my field, and I had just finished hoeing a three by three square of ground. I pulled a bag of seeds out of my rucksack and prepared to plant them, when something shiny caught my eye. Ever since I was a kid, I'd loved anything shiny or sparkly. I bent down and dusted the shiny thing off. It was a diamond. Not a fake diamond, a real one. What on earth was a real diamond doing buried in my farmyard? I ran my hand over the patch of dirt I had hoed, and I felt more diamonds. I ran inside and emptied my toolbox, and dragged it outside. I grabbed a shovel and began digging.

I dug for a good three hours, and I filled up my whole toolbox and beauty box with diamonds, with another pile left over. I put them in my rucksack, and then stared at the two boxes. The diamonds were very dirty. I grabbed my watering can and poured water into both boxes. The dirt came off easily, and the diamonds were shiny again in no time.

_Why are there diamonds in my farmyard? _

I was going to run out yelling "There are diamonds in my farmyard!" when I realised that that would only make people greedy and they'd probably come looking for more, killing my plants on the way. But I didn't want to keep this a secret. I had to tell someone. And that someone would be my boyfriend, Elliot.

I walked casually out of my farmyard, trying to keep my face calm. I waved to my friends on the way, and found Elliot outside his house.

"Hey Chelsea!" he said. "Chelsea, are you OK?"

Trust him to see past my calm face.

"Elliot, I need you to come back to my farmyard, without drawing any attention to either of us."

"Uh, OK?" he said. I smiled. _He looks so cute when he's confused._

I took his hand and we walked back up to my farmyard together. I'm sure I heard someone mutter "Young love" as we passed them.

"OK, Chelsea, what's the problem?" he asked.

"Well," I said, walking to the back of my house. "I was hoeing my farmyard when…well…I found…these." I opened the boxes, and heard Elliot's gasp.

"Chelsea…how…what…where…"

"Hoeing. Diamonds. In my farmyard," I said.

"Who on earth would burry diamonds in a farmyard?" he asked.

"Whoever was here last, I'm guessing. What happened to the last farmer?"

"No idea. But when we arrived the farm looked like it hadn't been touched in at least ten years. Well, the whole island looked like that."

"What are we going to do with these?" I asked.

"Why don't we sell them to fix up the island? I bet we'd be able to fix up the entire island with them."

"That's a great idea!" I said. "It'll help everyone!"

So we used the diamonds to pay for new paths and bridges. The villagers faces when they saw the diamonds were priceless. We had some diamonds left over once we had bought everything. Elliot and I agreed that we should divide the diamonds up with the rest of the villagers. Goddess, we were so popular when we handed them out.

We went back to my house, and sat inside. I opened a draw to put my jacket away, when I noticed a small, black book.

"Elliot, look at this."

I took the book over to the bed and sat down. I opened it and lots of old pages fell out. I picked one up and read a few lines.

"It's a diary! It's the diary of the last farmer."

Silence.

"Elliot?"

Elliot was staring at a page.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"_Dear log_," he read. "_I earned the diamonds honestly, the same way everyone else earns money. It's not my fault I was able to earn a lot of them. I grew some very good crops. But now the rest of the villagers think I'm a thief. I'm not. I swear to the Goddess I'm not. I've been growing crops for five years. I've earned those diamonds over time. I was just too modest to show off. Then that stupid girl comes in and raids my house, and finds boxes of diamonds under my bed. Now everyone wants me to leave the island. They don't know where I got the diamonds, but they're convinced that I'll go break into their houses and steal their stuff next. I don't want to leave but I don't have a choice. I'm going to burry the diamonds in the farmyard. There is no way they'll let me take them, and I'm not going to let them have them. They don't deserve them. The next farmer who comes here can find them. Hopefully he or she will let something good come from them. Goodbye Sunny Island._"

We sat in silence for a moment. "I can't make out the name of the farmer," said Elliot.

"After the farmer left, I bet the whole village began to fall apart," I said. "Without the farmer growing crops and everything… I bet the villagers began to leave…"

"Probably," said Elliot.

"Well, we did something right," I said with a smile. "We did something good with the diamonds, just like the past farmer wanted us too."

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	5. Picket Fence

Hello everyone. I'm back with another one-shot for Let Love In's Challenge. I hope you enjoy it.

**Review Replies**

Neko-lily: Elliot is actually one of my favourite bachelors at the moment. But not many people like him. Thank you so much for the review.h

Yeah, Neko-lily was the only person who reviewed. But thank you to everyone who read this anyway.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon.

* * *

**Picket Fence **

**Word: **Picket Fence

"Sam!" I called, searching for my dog. It was already eight o'clock pm and it was too dark to see anything. "Sam, where are you?"

With a sigh, I gave up. Sam could sleep outside tonight. I had checked the weather forecast, and tomorrow was supposed to be warm and sunny. I didn't think there was any harm in leaving my dog outside for one night.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

It was about two o'clock am when I was woken up by the sound of howling and barking. I didn't worry about it, thinking that Sam had probably seen a shadow move and was barking at it. That dog was a bit of a wuss. It was when I heard a yelp that I got worried.

I climbed out of bed and ran outside my house. Sam was lying on the ground, and standing next to him were two snarling wild dogs. Sam was growling, but he wasn't getting up.

_Oh goddess! _I thought. _What if he's hurt? Goddess, help me! What am I going to do? _

I did the first thing that popped into my head. I pulled my hammer out of my rucksack, and chased off the dogs, yelling at the top of my lungs. I didn't hit them with the hammer, I didn't have the guts to, but I did scare them off. The noise woke up the girl who lived on the farm next door, Popuri.

"Jack?" she asked. "What's going on?"

_How on earth is she so awake at this time of morning? _I thought.

"Wild dogs attacked Sam," I said aloud.

"Oh my goddess!" she gasped, running over. "Is he alright?"

"I don't know."

Sam still hadn't stood up. I was praying that he was still alive. Thankfully, he was, but his front paw was bleeding.

"We have to get him to doctor!" exclaimed Popuri.

"But the clinic doesn't open for another seven hours!"

"Well, I'll MAKE it open."

_Wow, _I thought. _I never thought I'd hear Popuri say that. _

I took a towel out of my bathroom to wrap Sam in, because he was still bleeding. Popuri ran ahead, and I walked as fast as I could, whispering comforting words to the dog in my arms. I honestly felt that Sam could understand what I was saying.

Popuri was banging on the clinic door when I caught up with her.

"OPEN UP! IT'S AN EMERGANCY!"

The door opened, and a very tired looking Elli came out. She had bags under her eyes, but she was still smiling.

"WilddogsattackedJack'sdogSamandhe'sbleedingandhereallyneedshelp!" gasped Popuri, saying it like it was all one word.

"What?"

"Wild…dogs…attacked…Jack's…dog…Sam…and…he…is…bleeding…and…needs…help," Popuri repeated, slower.

Elli gasped when she saw the blood stained towel. She took Sam out of my arms and hurried inside, calling doctor's name.

Popuri and I sat in the waiting room while the doctor examined Sam. It was so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat. Popuri kept looking at me, whispering, "It will be OK." It didn't help.

I stood up when Doctor came out of the examination room. "Sam is going to be fine," he said. "The cut that the wild dogs had made was big, but not deep. I've bandaged it up and he may limp a bit, but he should be fine. If he's still limping in a week, come see me."

Doctor passed me my dog, now with a bandaged leg. He licked my hand affectionately.

"Thanks, doc," I said, turning to leave.

"Oh, Jack!" said Doctor. "I recommend putting up a fence to keep the wild dogs out."

"OK. Thank you."

Popuri walked me back home, chatting excitedly the whole way. I was really tired, but if Popuri was, she definitely didn't show it. She was still talking when we got to my farm, and she didn't look like she was planning to stop.

"Good night, Popuri," I interrupted.

"Oh, right! Good night, Jack."

Popuri skipped back to her farm, and I took Sam inside and climbed into bed.

***

I slept in until eight o'clock, which was very unlike me. I was normally a morning person. Waking up at two am really messed up my body clock/.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! _

_What would anyone be doing at my farm this early? _I wondered, opening the door, to discover a bubbly, pink-haired girl smiling at me.

"Morning, Jack!"

"Um, good morning, Popuri," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"We've come to help!" said a voice from behind. Popuri stepped to the side, and Ann came over. "We heard what happened last night, and we're going to help you build a fence."

It was then that I noticed that Popuri and Ann were not the only people in my farmyard. There was also Rick, Gray, Cliff, Kai, Karen and Mary. The boys were carrying planks of wood, Mary was carrying a few tubs of white paint and paintbrushes, and Ann and Karen were carrying axes and saws for the wood.

"So come on, farmer boy, get changed and let's start making this fence!"

I went back inside and changed into my overalls, and then came back out to start building. While I was getting changed my friends had gone to collect more wood, while now lay in a pile on my paddock. Ann was chopping up some of the branches on my farm to make more wood.

Popuri told me that they planned to make two fences, one for the front entrance, and another for the rear entrance. They were the only two places where the wild dogs could have gotten in.

The nine of us got to work cutting up the planks of wood and putting them together. Karen did most the cutting and Gray, Kai, Rick and I did most of the carrying and putting up the planks. Cliff tried, but, no offence to him; he wasn't the strongest of people. He helped Mary paint the planks. Popuri and Ann helped put the planks together.

"Now, Ann, a girl like you can't be strong enough to put planks together," Kai had said. "That's a man's job."

Ann sure showed him.

It took the entire day, but we didn't. And in the end we had a beautiful white picket fence at both entrances to my farm, with a gate and everything.

"It looks amazing, guys," I said. "Thank you so much."

"Happy to help," said Ann.

"Yeah, now you don't have to worry about leaving Sam out at night," said Popuri.

"Thank you all so much," I said to the group. I was so happy that I had such good friends.

The picket fence certainly kept the wild dogs out. It was sturdy, and it looked great. I don't know what I would have done without the help of my friends.

* * *


	6. Cooking

Hi everyone. Here is the next one-shot for Let Love In's Challenge

**Review Replies**

Neko-lily: Mm, I really need to make more happen in my fics... Oh, and that's OK about the short review. It was the only review I got , so a short review is better than nothing.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon

**

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Cooking **

**Word**: Mud Pies

All throughout the day, people had come into the supermarket only to remark on the horrible stench. And all throughout the day, Sasha had said the same two words. "Karen's cooking."

Karen hadn't been very well that day, so her nose was blocked and she couldn't smell anything. Claire had brought up that Karen can't cook in a conversation, and Karen was determined to prove her wrong.

Unfortunately, the way things were going, Karen was only going to make her cooking status a lot worse.

"Karen," said Sasha, holding her breath as she entered the kitchen. "Maybe I should help…"

"No, mum, it's fine. I can cook, you know," said Karen.

Sasha coughed in reply.

"Does no one believe in me?" said Karen. "I'll prove you all wrong."

Sasha sighed as she left the kitchen, shaking her head. Claire popped in to buy some seeds, and started spluttering as soon as she entered.

"Karen's cooking."

Claire swore to herself. "This is because I brought her cooking up in a conversation, isn't it." Sasha nodded. "Can she not smell that?"

"She's sick."

"Oh. Goddess, we're all going to die because of this smell. I'm sorry, I'll come back later."

Claire bolted out the door as quickly as possible.

The kitchen door opened as Karen stepped out to get some more ingredients. Sasha and Jeff tried to keep straight faces until she went back to the kitchen. Then Sasha gagged.

"Oh Goddess," she said, and hurried out the door. Jeff followed. Once outside, they breathed in the fresh air.

"She may not be able to smell, but let's hope she can taste how horrible this is. I hope she never cooks again."

"That's not very nice," said Rick. He walked into the supermarket, but ran straight back out again. "But it's true," he coughed.

Rick went back to the farm, while Sasha and Jeff waited outside the supermarket, hoping that Karen would quickly come to her senses.

Inside the supermarket, Karen hummed to herself as she went to take her dish out of the oven.

_I'll show Claire I can cook. I'll prove it to them all. _

She put on the oven mitt, and opened the oven door. To anyone else, they probably would have died from the smell, but Karen couldn't smell anything.

Karen placed the dish on the bench and frowned. It had become a brown lump that did not resemble any type of dish. No one would be able to tell what the dish was supposed to be in the first place.

_It'll taste better than it looks. _

Karen pulled out a fork and took a mouthful of the brown lump, only to gag and spit it out again.

"Oh my goddess!" she gasped, running to the tap to rinse out her mouth. "Oh goddess, that is the worst taste imaginable!"

After Karen had got the taste out of her mouth, (she had eaten a lot of chocolate to do so), she looked over at the brown lump.

_Claire was right. I cannot cook._

She stared at the brown lump, and smiled as it brought back a memory from when she was five years old …

_"Karen!" yelled Rick, running over to the supermarket. The two children had been best friends since they could remember, and spent every spare moment of their lives together. _

_"Hi Rick!" said Karen excitedly. "Did you hear the thunderstorm last night? It was awesome!" _

_"I know, and now the farms all muddy! Come with me!" _

_Karen and Rick ran back to the farmyard, splashing in the puddles on the way. When they got to the farmyard, they walked through the ankle-deep mud to the grass at the end of the farm._

_"Let's make mud pies!" _

_Karen and Rick knelt on the ground, gathering up handfuls of mud and placing them in relatively pie-shaped piles. _

_"Mmm, yummy pies," said Rick. _

_"Go on, then, eat them!" said Karen._

_"Nah, they're only mud." _

_Karen grinned, and put her hands over the pies. "Oh magic powers, make these mud pies into real pies!" _

_"Nothing happened, Karen." _

_"That's what you think. They don't look like pies but they taste like pies. Try one. Please?" _

_"OK! I love pie!" _

_Rick scooped up a handful of mud and stuffed it in his mouth. He made a face of disgust and spat it into the river beside them._

_"Eww!" he said. "Karen, you lied! They don't taste like real pies at all!" _

_Karen stuck her tongue out at the young boy. "You believed it."_

_Rick frowned at Karen. Then, he picked up a mud pie and flung it at Karen's face. A perfect shot._

_Karen ran her hand down her face, wiping off some of the mud._

_"You are so dead!" _

_Karen scooped up two mud pies, one in each hand, and hurled them at Rick. He dodged the first one, but the second one hit him._

_Karen and Rick's mud fight lasted a good ten minutes. It was stopped when one of Rick's mud pies hit baby Popuri in the face when she had crawled out of the house. She burst into tears._

_"Rick!" said Rod, picking up the crying baby. _

_"Sorry, daddy," said Rick. _

_"You two are a mess. Go and get cleaned up right now!" _

_Karen and Rick ran upstairs into Rick's bathroom. They filled up the bath, and jumped in, clothes and all. _

_They had a water fight in the bathtub, but Lillia wasn't impressed when she found all the cleaning she had to do. _

_"That was fun," said Rick as he walked Karen back to the supermarket. _

_"I can't wait until it rains again! Next time we should have a wet sand fight at the beach." _

Karen smiled at the memory, and then frowned when she was brought back to reality by the sight of the brown blob.

_I suppose I have to clean this up now. _

Karen went to pick up the plate, and then sneezed. Her nose unblocked, and the horrible smell filled her nostrils.

"Oh. Oh. Eww! Ah!"

Karen disposed of the brown blob, and all mess she had made while making the brown blob, as quickly as possible. Then she grabbed some perfume and sprayed the kitchen and the store until it smelt of flowers.

"Mum, why didn't you tell me it smelt so bad!" said Karen.

"Uh, well, I tried…"

Karen sighed. "I can't cook."

"But that doesn't matter," said Claire, coming to pick up the seeds she had come for in the first place. "Karen, you're still one of my best friends."

"Thanks," said Karen. "You're one of my best friends too."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are appreciated.


	7. Black and White

Hello everyone. I'm finally updating, so be glad. And I am very sorry it took me so long.

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Little Miss Oneshot: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you enjoyed them.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon

**

* * *

Black and White**

**Words: **Black and White

Anyone would think that I would never be jealous of Claire and Gray. Anyone would think that I was perfectly fine that they were together. I'll admit that I want them to think that, but it's not true. Not only did I want to be Gray's girlfriend, but I'm jealous of Claire. She's perfect. She's beautiful, she's hard working, she's smart, and she's kind. She's just so perfect. And I wish I was more like her.

But I look back now and I regret what I did.

It was a simple summer's day, and Gray invited me to go have lunch at Kai's shack with him and Claire. Claire and I were friendly towards each other, but I wouldn't say we were friends. Gray and I were friends. Well, he thought so at least. I wished it was more. But I was grateful that he had invited me anyway. Better to be just friends than to be enemies.

So we all went down to the Snack Shack for lunch. While Kai was cooking our meal, Claire somehow got into the conversation about her hair. She said that it was ugly and she hated it. I knew this wasn't true. I knew that Claire loved her hair and thought it was beautiful, but being negative about it was a sure way to get other people to tell her how beautiful it was. And it certainly worked.

"Oh Claire, you're hair is beautiful," said Gray, running his hand through it.

Claire fluttered her eyelids. "You think so? What's so beautiful about it?"

"Everything," answered Gray. "It's so silky and beautiful and blonde…"

I took a deep breath and looked away, patiently waiting for our lunch to arrive. At least while we're eating they're not discussing the beauty of Claire's hair.

After lunch they decided to head back to Claire's farm. Gray tried to invite me, but Claire cut him off before he could finish. They both headed off to Claire's farm, but I decided to stay at the beach for a while.

I flicked my long black plait around, wishing my hair was as pretty as Claire's. That's when along came the salesman, Won.

"Ah, hello beautiful lady," he said. "You know what you need? You need some hair dye. And I have some just for you, for just 3000 G."

"Is it blonde?" I asked suddenly.

"Ah, yes," said Won. "It's is blonde hair dye, just for you."

I sighed. "It's very expensive."

"No, no, this is special hair dye. And I brought it down extra cheap. It's normally much more expensive, but I brought it down just for you."

And I don't know what made me do it, but I bought it.

I sat in front of the mirror, undoing my plait. I closed my eyes and imagined myself with perfect blonde hair, just like Claire's. I imagined myself beautiful. That was how I want to look.

I should have asked my mother to help me dye my hair. But I knew that she would have advised me against it. She would have told me that my hair was beautiful just the way it was, and that there was simply no need for me to dye it. I would have been smart to listen to her. But I didn't tell her. I began dying my hair myself.

There was no label on the bottle, and no instructions on how I should dye my hair. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to work out. I stepped into the shower, not wanting to get any dye on the carpet or anything, and began dying my hair.

Because of the length of my hair, I decided it would be quickest to do one side at a time. So I parted my hair and began dying one half. Dying my hair was most definitely the biggest mistake I had ever made.

I finished dying half of my hair, and decided I wanted to see how it looked. I stepped out of the shower, looked into the mirror, and screamed.

My mother heard my scream, and I quickly wrapped my hair in a towel. I told her that I had just showered and seen a spider, which was why I screamed. She believed me, and left. I closed the door to the bathroom again, and made sure that it was locked before letting down my hair. The dye that Won had sold me was not blonde, but white. Half of my hair was as white as snow, the other half as dark as ash. I slumped down on a chair and cried.

After a few minutes, my mother knocked on the door. She needed the shower. I sighed, knowing that I'd have to tell her sometime. Saying nothing, I opened the door just a little and peeked out. "Mother, I need your help."

"Of course, dear," she said. I dropped my gaze and opened the door. My mother gasped.

"Mary, darling, what did you do to your hair?" she asked.

"Won told me it was blonde," I said sadly.

"Mary, your hair was beautiful just the way it was. Why on earth would you want to dye it blonde?"

I sighed. "I wanted to be beautiful, like Claire."

"Mary," said my mother, wrapping her arms around me. "Darling, you are beautiful."

I didn't say anything.

"Honey, I think we'll have to cut your hair off," said my mother.

I looked once more in the mirror at my black and white hair, and nodded, passing her the scissors.

It was lucky that I hadn't died the full half of my hair. I had only gone to just above the ears. So I watched sadly as my hair fell to the ground, until what was left only reached to my ears.

Whenever people came to the library and questioned my hair, I told them I wanted to try something new. Of course, having a gossip queen for a mother meant that the news about my new hairdo got out – she was kind enough not to tell them about the hair dye, but people eventually started coming to the library purely to see my hair. One such person was Kai.

"I wanted to try something new," I said when he entered. Saying this was now a habit.

"No you didn't. I saw you buying hair dye from Won the other day. You fell for it and dyed your hair white, didn't you?"

"You knew?"

"Of course," answered Kai. "You're not the only girl to fall for Won's hair dye scam. He'll tell you it's blonde, it's brown, it's whatever you want. In the end all you're going to get is white hair."

I sighed and leaned on the desk. Kai turned to leave, but just as he got to the door, he turned around and said, "Oh, and by the way, I thought your hair was a lot prettier than Claire's anyway."

And with that he left.

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Well, I liked this oneshot, but I'd like to know what you thought. Please review! Thank you.


	8. Angel

I'm back! Well, I was never gone, but it took me so long to update that I very well could have been. I just haven't felt like writing lately. I've had writer's block and just no inspiration. I even struggled to write this one, but the good news is I've been feeling like writing lately, just for the sake of writing. So if all goes well I might update quicker for a while. School's getting busy, but I'll try.

**Review Replies**

GreenOpalus: I may write a sequel later. I don't know.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon

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**Angel**

**Word: **Angel

"Amen."

The girl opened her eyes and looked at the large stone in front of her, with the words engraved on it:

_Here lies "Mark"_

_Rancher Extraordinaire _

_Rest In Peace_

Mark was Jill Farman's father, and a friend to all of the residents of Forget-Me-Not Valley. It had been on this day, the 12th day of winter, exactly five years ago, that Mark had suffered that fatal heart attack. Jill could remember it clearly…

_ The teenage girl laughed as she chased the pesky chicken around the farmyard. "Come on Penny!" she called. "Get back to the chicken coop!"_

_ The chicken clucked and ran away from Jill. The young farmer laughed and ran faster, gaining on the chicken. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed, the chicken clucking loudly as she was lifted into the air. _

_ Jill turned around, and no more than a second later she saw her father clutch his chest and drop to his knees. _

_ Jill literally dropped the chicken as she ran over to her father. He fell backwards, his eyes rolling back in his head. _

_ "HELP!" yelled Jill. "PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!" _

_ By the time the townsfolk had gotten the doctor, Mark was already gone. _

Jill wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks and stood up. Every year she'd try her best to be brave about it. And every year she'd come down and pray at her father's gravestone. And every time she did, she'd forget about being brave and she'd cry until she felt she had cried every last tear out of her body.

The farmer girl made her way back to her farm with her head down to hide her red eyes, her tear-stained face and the tears that continued to roll down her cheeks. Celia stood in front of her when she saw her friend passing.

"Jill, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Jill shook her head and pushed past Celia, ignoring the looks of concern that she got. She could hear Marlin's voice, even though he tried to speak softly. "It's the anniversary of her father's death."

"Oh…" was the last thing she heard Celia say before she bolted the rest of the way home.

Most of the townsfolk had become use to her breaking down into fits of sobs on this one day of the year. They respected her for a while after her father's death, but now, five years later, they thought that she'd deal with it better. They didn't understand the relationship Jill had with her father. They were really close; closer than most fathers and daughters.

Jill dropped down on her bed and laid there, her pillow absorbing her tears. Eventually she had cried herself to sleep. And though her dream was strange, it felt so real…

_ The brunette frowned as she looked around, trying to work out where she was. She saw a white light. "Am I dead?" she murmured to herself. She squinted against the light as she saw a figure coming towards her. It looked human…except…it had wings. She raised an eyebrow as the figure came into view. Then she gasped when she recognised it._

_ "D-D-Dad?" she gasped. _

_ The angel smiled. "Hello Jilly." _

_ Tears in her eyes, the young farmer raced to her angel father and hugged him. And he hugged her back. But she realised that the light was fading, and with it, he was too._

_ "Don't leave," she whispered. _

_ "I never left," was his last words before she woke up. _

Jill glanced at her clock. It was 4am. But she wasn't sleepy. She found she was crying again after the dream. She reached over and grabbed her diary, and flicked through the pages. One got her attention.

_Summer 9__th_

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm sick. It's horrible. I had a headache yesterday so I thought my plants would last one day without me watering them. But today I feel that I can't even get out of bed. My plants are going to die for sure. _

_~Jill _

When she read the next entry, her brow furrowed.

_Summer 16__th_

_Dear Diary,_

_It's a miracle! It must be a miracle! It's a week later and I'm feeling much better, and when I got up this morning I was sure I'd be greeted by dead animals and plants. I wasn't! It's a miracle! My plants are alive and my animals aren't even sick. I asked around town, and no one had come to help. Oh, it's a wonderful miracle. Thank the goddess! _

_~Jill_

She could remember this. There was no logical explanation for how her plants and animals could have survived a week without care from anyone. Unless…

He never left.


	9. Charms

Okay, I finally got off my lazy butt and wrote you all another one-shot. I was kind of stuck for ideas with this one, but hey, it's a story.

**Review Replies**

Little Miss Oneshot: Haha, looks like I'm not the only lazy one here. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you like it.

Cinnamoroll22: Thanks so much for reviewing. I hope you enjoy this one-shot.

Thank you both for reviewing. You guys make me happy.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harvest Moon. I do own a charm bracelet. Or it would be a charm bracelet, if I actually ended up putting those charms on it...

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**Charms **

**Words: **Charm Bracelet

Claire climbed underneath her bed, pushing the cardboard boxes out from underneath it. She had been at Mineral Town since she was fifteen years old, that was ten years ago, and she had finally decided to clean out the boxes of who-knows-what that had sat under her bed for so long.

She coughed from the dust and climbed out from under her bed, looking at the five boxes that now sat in her house. "Where do I start?" she muttered to herself. She opened the first box and found a whole lot of clothing; clothing she wouldn't ever be able to fit into. _May can have this stuff, _she decided. The young girl would grow into them eventually, and they weren't doing much sitting in a box under the blonde farmer's bed.

She opened box number two and found a whole lot of papers. She went through a few of them, finding letters, bills, diary entries, bits of everything from when she first came to Mineral Town. _No use keeping this. _Claire picked up the box and took it to the paper bin, turning it upside down and emptying it into the bin.

_CLUNK!_

Claire frowned. _Paper doesn't make a clunking sound… _The petite blonde knelt down beside the bin and shuffled through the papers, grateful she hadn't put anything disgusting in this bin. Her fingers brushed something cold and she pulled it out. "Oh my goddess…" she breathed as she pulled out a beautiful silver charm bracelet, with four different charms on it. Each brought back a memory of when she got it…

_**Year Two **_

_I sat on the edge of the dock, looking out into the deep blue ocean. Today marked the anniversary of my arrival in Mineral Town, and also my sixteenth birthday. When I turned fifteen last year, I moved away from my mother in the city and went to live with my father on Lavender Farm, here. I doubted my mother missed me too much. She was always so busy working. I barely even saw her when I was at home. I definitely didn't regret moving. I had made the best friends anyone could ever have, and I may have developed a crush on a certain blacksmith… I felt a smile creep onto my face at the thought of him._

_ "CLAIRE!" _

_ I jumped at the sound of Popuri's voice and then stood up. Popuri was one of my closest friends. I turned around and found her running onto the beach, clutching a small blue box. I ran out to meet her._

_ "Happy birthday to you!" she sang, passing me the box _

_ "Aw, Poppy, thank you," I said as I opened the box. Inside was a silver chain. She took it out of the box and put it on my wrist. "It's a charm bracelet. Except it doesn't have any charms on it yet. You can collect charms." She smiled. I hugged her._

_ "Thanks Popuri." _

_**Year 3**_

_I hummed to myself as I worked in the mines. Lift up hoe. Bring hoe down on ground. Look for treasure. Repeat. I could see why some people could find it boring, but I didn't. I enjoyed it. I don't know why._

_ I was on the top level of the mine, not interested in going down any levels today. I had decided I would collect all the treasure from this level and then go back and spend the rest of the day working on my farm. I was about to leave the mine when something caught my attention. I ran over and knelt down on the ground. I could have sworn I saw something there… I ran my hand over the dirt and felt something. I picked it up. It was a tiny silver flower. _How on earth did it get here? _I wondered to myself. I looked at my charm bracelet, and then back at the flower charm. I smiled and took it to the blacksmith's, and had Gray put it on the bracelet for me. I had no idea how a charm had gotten to the mine, but I was glad I had found it._

_**Year 4 **_

"_Thanks, Mary!" I picked up the books she had given to me on farming and walked back to my farm. Mary was such a sweetheart; so friendly and always willing to help me. _

_ I dumped the books on my bed and sat cross-legged there. I picked up the first book, which was on growing crops, and opened it to the first page. And then I frowned as a tiny silver charm slid out. I picked it up and studied it. It was a book. "Clever…" I murmured. "I'll have to thank Mary." _

_ I had Gray put the charm on my bracelet, and went to the library again to thank the lovely young librarian. And left the library feeling even more confused. She hadn't put the charm there. _

_ "Well…Thank you, mysterious charm giver," I murmured. _

_**Year 5**_

_I sung to myself as I hurried from one part of the farm to the other, doing my typical farming chores. Water the crops, harvest the crops, plant new crops, pat the animals, feed the animals, milk the cows, give the sheep medicine, the usual. Once I was done, I stood up and dusted the dirt off my hands and went to check the mailbox._

_ I mumbled to myself as I went through the mail. "Bills…Message from the blacksmith's…birthday card…junk mail…What?" _

_ I tossed the rest of the letters on my bed, except for one envelope. It didn't say who it was from, but had my name written on the front in handwriting I didn't recognise. Curiously, I opened it, and frowned. There was no card. No letter. It was empty. Wait…no, it wasn't._

_ Another small charm sat in the envelope. It was two silver horses. _Who knows that I love horses? _I wondered to myself, trying to work out who sent it to me as I went to the blacksmith's once again._

_**Year 6**_

"_Where is it?" _

_ I was getting worried. I had been through everything in my house and could not find my charm bracelet anywhere. The bracelet was very precious to me, and it was gone. I was worried it had fallen off while I had been working, and that one of my animals had eaten it. That wouldn't go down well. _

_ I walked outside and got down on my hands and knees, searching the field for the silver bracelet._

_ "Claire?"_

_ I think I blushed when I heard Gray's voice at the entrance to my farm. After all, he had just seen me muttering to myself while on my hands and knees, hunting for my bracelet._

_ "Looking for this?" he asked._

_ I jumped up and had to restrain from half hug half tackling him when I saw that he was holding my bracelet. I ran over to him. "Oh, Gray, thank you so much! Where'd you find it?" I took it, and noticed that it had a new charm; a love heart. I frowned in confusion._

_ "Where'd this one come from?" _

_ "I bought it. Just like the other ones." _

_ I frowned. "Wait…so…you're the mysterious charm giver? Why?" _

_ He didn't say anything to answer. Instead, he kissed me. _

Claire smiled to herself and put the bracelet around her wrist. The bracelet had come from her best friend, and the charms had come from her secret admirer and crush, who had became her boyfriend and eventually her husband. And a father.


	10. Rain on the Party

I'm back! So sorry for the absence. School + Exams + Writer's Block = No Good Updates. But I'm back now; exams are over and my writer's block is gone! So now I can write again.

**Review Replies**

speed and write: I'm glad you enjoyed them. I'm also glad you love Elliot, like me. :D Thanks for reviewing.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harvest Moon, nor do I own any pretty, formal dresses or a single pair of high heel shoes.

**

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Rain on the Party **

**Words: **Storm Clouds

"This is going to be awesome!" Popuri squealed, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Popuri, Elli, Mary, Ann, Karen and I were all gathered in my little farm house as we got ready for the dance at the inn. Ann and Karen had been planning it for ages. It was to celebrate the fact that Mary's book was getting published. Mary insisted that we didn't do anything big because it wasn't really that special of a day, but hey, it's an excuse to par-tay down.

It was going to be formal, and I must say, all my girlfriends were looking simply beautiful. Ann was wearing a short-sleeved, pale yellow dress with a flowing skirt that ended just below her knees, and we forced her, to her disappointment, to wear a matching pair of high heel shoes. She was surpisingly good at walking in them. Instead of wearing her hair in the usual plait, she had put it in a high ponytail, and because she usually wore it in a plait it was very wavy.

Elli was wearing a blue ball gown-like dress, with puffy sleeves, a tight top and a puffy skirt. The hem of the skirt was covered in silver sparkles. Due to her short hair, we had problems making it look special, so we put a nice big bow in it for her.

Popuri was dressed in her signature colour, pink. She had a tight, hot pink spaghetti strapped dress and matching high heels and silk gloves, and she had straightened her pink hair. I wish she straightened it more often; it looked amazing.

Only she could pull off that much pink.

Karen had curled her blonde hair and left it out, and she was dressed in a low cut v-neck black dress which was way too revealing for my liking, but looked amazing on her. It had a straight skirt with a slit on the right side which allowed her to move around in it. She wore black high heels as well. She had been the one who taught us all to walk in them.

In my opinion, Mary looked the most beautiful. She wore a sleeveless pale blue dress with a corset-like top and a flowing skirt. She was a little uncomfortable in it at first, because she thought it was way to revealing, even though it wasn't. She had a pair of white gloves that reached her elbows and a cute little purse. She also wore high heels but kept tripping over in them. We managed to convince her to wear her hair out, and believe me, it was beautiful. It was wavy because she usually wore it in a plait, and she tied some of it back to keep it out of her face.

I was wearing a little dark blue dress with sparkles. It had a frilly skirt which ended right above the knees and a sleeveless love heart cut top. I had black high heels and a midnight blue purse. When I had stepped out of the bathroom in my dress, the five girls had stared at me and had me thinking my dress had fallen down or something.

"Wow," Karen had said. "You look amazing, you know that?"

Karen was curling my hair into a bunch of golden ringlets when Mary looked out the window. "Oh no…"

"What's wrong?" Elli asked.

"Storm clouds," said Mary. "You guys better hurry up; we don't want to be caught in the rain."

It wasn't raining when we stepped out of the house. No, if it had been we might have been smart and waited for the rain to pass. But the rain had started when we were half way to the inn. We took off our shoes, due to it being way too hard to run in high heels, and sprinted to the inn. And the boys stared at us when we arrived. One glance at each other and we knew why.

For one thing, we were positively drenched. Our make-up had smudged and run down our face. Our dresses were clinging to our bodies in the most unattractive way possible. Popuri's hair had gone wavy again, and everyone else's hair was a mess. I heard a gentle sob and noticed that Karen was crying. She and Ann had worked so hard on making the party perfect and now it was ruined because of some stupid rain. She sprinted upstairs and we followed her up, sitting in one of the rooms with looks of disappointment on our face.

About five minutes later, we heard Kai's voice calling us. "I'm not going," said Karen, but the rest of us girls went downstairs. And as soon as we heard the boy's plan, we literally dragged Karen downstairs too.

Ten minutes later, and we were all gathered in the Town Square. Yes, in the rain. We were drenched from head to foot, and having the time of our lives. Even Karen loved every minute of it. Due to the fact that the CD player couldn't be in the rain, she was being our music, her melodic voice filling the square.

"May I have this dance?" asked a familiar, quiet voice. I turned around and saw Cliff standing there, holding his hand out.

"Why, yes," I giggled. "Yes you may."

And we danced in the rain. I saw Rick watching Karen sing, my brother Jack dancing with Ann, Elli dancing with Doctor Trent… to my surprise, Popuri seemed to have practically dragged Gray to his feet. So what happened to Mary? I saw Kai sneaking a kiss in the rain with her, and I smiled to myself. Turns out dancing in the rain is much more fun than dancing in the inn.

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I don't really like this chapter too much, but hopefully you did. Now, I command you to press that nice little button down there and write me a lovely review. Thank you.


	11. Hugs and Kisses from Muffy

I got home from school this afternoon, and had a huge urge to write. So, I used my writing urge productively, and completed another one-shot for you! I hope you like it.

**Review Replies**

char2happy: I think that one is one of my better ones. I'm glad you like it.

Green-Chrystall: Yay for nice guys! Thanks for reading.

Karomajutsu: I'm very glad you liked it. Hope you enjoy this one too.

Hope you guys enjoy this one!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harvest Moon.

* * *

**Hugs and Kisses from Muffy**

**Words**: Hugs and Kisses

_Dear Jack,_

_Twenty-two today! You're getting old, aren't you? Don't worry, I'm just kidding. Hope you have a fantastic day and you get lots of presents._

_With love,_

_Muffy xoxo _

Jack read over the letter again, and leaned against the side of his house with a soft sigh and a small smile. He looked at the way that she had signed the letter, with 'xoxo'. That meant hugs and kisses. It was typical for her to sign a letter in that way; she probably signed every letter like that, no matter who it was to. For the past four ears that Jack had lived in Forget-Me-Not-Valley, she had sent him a birthday card and signed it in that same way. Nonetheless, it always made Jack's heart flutter ever so slightly in his chest. How he longed to hold her gently and kiss her. He had fallen for her so quickly. He remembered when he had first met her at the Blue Bar, on his second day of his life in Forget-Me-Not Valley. His first thought was simply, 'She's beautiful'. He thought about the way her blonde hair fell into beautiful wavy locks around her face, and how her green eyes sparkled like emeralds. He realised now that 'beautiful' was a huge understatement. There wasn't a word in the dictionary that could describe how perfect she was. She wasn't only amazingly beautiful; she was cheerful and bubbly, and kind and sweet. And he was in love with her.

They had become friends quickly, and, on Jack's side, that friendship had become a crush. But Jack wasn't the kind of guy who would just go and ask the girl he liked out. Unlike many guys, he was actually afraid of being rejected. Asking her out could turn their friendship into a real relationship, but it could also ruin their friendship altogether. He didn't want to lose her. He was always just too afraid to actually go up there and ask her out.

By the end of his second year of Forget-Me-Not Valley, Jack had realised that this was more than just a crush. This was when he realised that he was head over heels in love with the beautiful, young bartender. Yet he never had the courage to tell her.

The third year of Jack's life at Forget-Me-Not Valley brought him a broken heart. It was a particularly quiet day at the Blue Bar; he and Muffy were alone. She had seemed very absent-minded that day; lost in daydreams and suddenly blushing and smiling every now and again. Unable to ignore it any more, he asked her what was on her mind. She smiled and giggled in that adorable way that made Jack's heart speed up, though after she told him what was on her mind, his heart sunk. Griffin had asked her out, on a proper date. The first thing the young farmer felt was shock, followed by pain. He discovered why it was called 'heartbreak'; it felt like his heart was being torn in two. But, pushing his thoughts and emotions to the back of his mind, he faked a smile and told her that he was happy for her. At least she was happy. He kept reminding himself this. Her happiness was important to him. He'd ignore his feelings about her and just be glad that she was happy, even though she was with Griffin and not with him.

He did notice one thing about her while she was dating Griffin, though: her green eyes didn't sparkle. Yes, she was smiling and laughing and she looked happy, but her eyes didn't sparkle like they had the past couple of years. Or maybe he was only noticing this because he wanted to be with her, and he was secretly hoping that she wasn't happy with Griffin. Perhaps he was only seeing what he wanted to see.

Jack never got over Muffy. He never looked at any of the other girls in the valley and considered asking them out. He never saw anyone in the same way that he saw Muffy. Nonetheless, whenever he saw her he would put on a smile and talk to her like the best friend that she thought of him as.

It was about four months after Griffin and Muffy had started dating, at about nine o'clock at night. Jack was lying on his bed, not tired enough to sleep but too exhausted to do anymore farm work. His dog, Sam, who was sitting at his feet, barked up at him. A few seconds later, Jack worked out why the dog had barked: someone was at the door, knocking. Sighing slightly, Jack opened the door and saw the blonde bartender standing there, cheeks stained with tears. Her eyeliner had smudged and her eyes were red. She immediately threw herself into his arms, crying into his chest. Jack wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried, letting her sit on the bed and curl up beside him. When she managed to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks, she explained to him that Griffin had broken up with her. He was sweet and everything; he had told her that he just wanted to be friends in the nicest possible way, but it still hurt her. She told him that she felt she would never be good enough for anyone and that no one would ever truly love her. He told her that she would find someone who would love her. He told her that she was nice, and friendly, and pretty, and it would be too easy for her to find someone who truly loved her. He just hoped that he would eventually the courage to tell her that he would.

As he held her in his arms, letting her cry into his chest, he made a silent promise that he would never let anyone hurt her like this again. And he couldn't help but think that despite the fact that her make-up was smudged and her face was red, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Jack sighed and read over the letter again. He had known her for four years, and had been in love with her for half of that. He had to tell her. She and Griffin had broken up over a year ago, yet he still hadn't found the courage to tell her. _I will, _he told him self determinedly. _I will tell her tonight._

So, that night, as usual, Jack went to the Blue Bar as soon as it had opened. Muffy was there dusting off one of the shelves. She turned around as she heard the familiar bell that rang every time someone entered the bar. "Oh, hi, Jack!" she said cheerfully. "I didn't realise it was opening time already."

"She's been here cleaning for half the day," said Griffin, walking out of the back room at that exact moment in time. After the break-up, and the initial pain that Muffy had felt, the two had gone back to being just friends. Jack could see that they were still a little awkward, a little uncomfortable around each other, but they tried hard not to let it show and continued like they had before they had started dating.

It certainly looked like Muffy had been working hard for a while. She was a little red in the face, and a few locks of her usually perfect hair had come loose from the headband that held it back. She tucked one of these locks behind her ear.

"Maybe you should come take a break…" Jack said casually, really hoping that this would be a good excuse to get Muffy out of the bar. "If it's okay with Griffin, that is." He looked expectantly, almost pleadingly, at Griffin, who gave a quick nod of permission.

"That's a good idea," he said. "You need a break, Muffy. Why don't you and Jack hang out tonight? I'll take care of the bar."

"Oh, but I can stay…" began Muffy, but Griffin all but cut her off.

"But nothing. Go out; have some fun."

"Well… if you're sure," said Muffy. As Griffin nodded his head, she smiled. "Thank you."

"Come," said Jack softly, holding out his hand. She slipped her hand into his, and he led her out of the bar. She didn't drop his hand once they were outside, which made a content smile appear on the farmer's face. He slowly curled his fingers through hers, enjoying the feel of her hand in his.

"Do you want to go to the beach?" he asked her. "It's very beautiful at night, and very relaxing."

Muffy nodded, smiling. "Let's go."

The two walked hand in hand to the beach, dropping each others hands once they arrived. Muffy gazed out into the deep blue ocean, clearly thinking about how beautiful it was. Jack faced the ocean as well, but he was glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and thinking about how beautiful she looked in the midnight. The moon seemed to give her blonde hair silver highlights, and it fell around her pale face. And, he noticed, her green eyes sparkled again.

She caught him looking at her, which made his cheeks turn slightly pink. She turned to face him, and looked at the ground for a second before bringing her eyes up to his. "I wanted to tell you something…"

"Oh, I wanted to say something t-" began Jack, but she cut him off.

"Me first, okay?" At the nod of his head, she continued. "You've been my best friend for a long time. You know that, right? You've always been there for me, including when Griffin broke up with me and I felt that I would never find anyone. I've been thinking a lot lately, and I think, well, I, um…" She tripped over her words slightly, and then mumbled, "I think I might be in love with you."

Jack's heart sped up and he wasn't sure if he heard what she had actually said, or if he was just hearing what he wanted, what he dreamed of hearing. "Um, what?" he said, wanting to know for sure if he had heard right.

"I said I think I might be in love with you," Muffy repeated, a little louder, dropping eye contact. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I hope I haven't ruined our friend-"

Jack cut her off this time, pulling her into his arms. "I know I'm in love with you," he whispered.

Muffy was silent for several seconds. "Really?" she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. Not of sadness, but of joy. He felt, because he held her against him, her heartbeat speed up like his was, and a smile grew on his face.

"Really," he confirmed softly, pulling back slightly so he could see her face. "I love you, Muffy." He tucked a loose lock of her hair out of her face, and leaned down to gently press his lips against hers. She responded immediately, gently cupping his cheek and kissing him back. This was the best birthday present in the word. Hugs and kisses from Muffy.


	12. Accidental Love Letters

Hi all! Guess what? I updated two stories in one day. You should be so proud of me. I'm going to apologise in advance for this story sucking, though. I wrote it at ten o'clock at night, after a long day, so there is probably several spelling and grammatical errors. And I don't think it's one of my best stories. I wasn't in a cheesy romance mood like I was last week, though having key words like "Love Letters" kind of means you need to have romance. Anyway, I'll quit stalling.

**Review Replies**

weirdogirl: Just for you, I will write a CliffxClaire fanfic. :)

BeyondtheSunset: And just for you, I will write a SkyexJill fanfic. (:

Chocolate Ball: Almost everyone loves GrayxClaire. And I prefer KaixMary to JackxMary, but I may write you a JackxMary fic. Maybe.

Xealvi: I'm glad you thought so.

So, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harvest Moon, and I have never received a love letter.

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**Accidental Love Letters**

**Words: **Love Letters

Claire hummed to herself as she finished watering her plants, and dusted her hands together. _Job well done_, she thought to herself, looking at her many healthy crops and smiling. She was very proud of her farm. She had turned it from an abandoned field to a bright, healthy and popular farm in only a year. Who wouldn't be proud of that?

She walked over to her mailbox and opened it up, frowning at what she saw in there. There was a collection of paper balls there, with something written on them. The hand writing was messy, like someone had scribbled them down at the last minute. Choosing not to throw them all away, she carried the stack inside and sat on her bed.

Reading through the letters, she found that they were clearly all written by the same person. But what was even more curious, was that they were all love letters. Some only said the words 'I love you', some having a little more depth. Some of them had said that the writer of the letters had felt a connection with her the moment they had met. "But, who would love me?" she asked herself aloud. "Who would love me enough to write all of these?"

_The day before… _

He watched her as she walked out of the inn, her blonde hair swishing from side of side as she walked out the door, definitely heading back to her farm. He rested his head on his hand with a small sigh. He was in love with her, no doubt about it, but he didn't have the courage to tell her. What if she rejected him? What if it ruined their friendship?

He walked up to his room and sat on his bed. Neither of his roommates had returned from their … whatever they were doing. He sat there for a while, just thinking. He thought about her and about how he felt about her. Was it possible that she felt the same way? He'd never know unless he told her.

_But how? _he asked himself. _How can I tell her? _He thought for a minute, and then pulled out a notepad and started writing, messily.

_Dear Claire,_

_ From the moment I met you I felt something, a connection with you. I don't know how or why. _He crossed out the words 'or why', and continued. _…but it just happened. It's obvious why. You're beautiful and kind and sweet and hard working and amazing _

He read over it, frowned, and tore the page out, scrunching it into a ball and throwing it beside his bed. He picked up his pen and tried again.

_Dear Claire,_

_ I didn't believe in love, but then I met you._

He tore that one out too, deciding it was way too cheesy.

_Dear Claire,_

_ I think I might kind of, sort of be madly in love with you._

As could be expected, that one was torn out and scrunched into a ball too. After about twenty minutes, he had a pile of paper balls by his bed. He just didn't know what to write. He was never good at explaining how he felt or wording things properly.

_Dear Claire, _

_ I love you. _

He sighed, and scrunched that letter up into a ball too. _I guess she'll never know, _he thought to himself.

"Hey Cliff, we're back!" He heard his roommates stomping up the stairs. He hurriedly threw the paper balls underneath his bed, took off his shoes and climbed under the covers. He faced the wall and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He heard both Gray and Kai start whispering instead of talking aloud, and he couldn't make out what they were saying anyway. His fake-sleep eventually became real sleep, as his breathing evened out and he entered dreamland.

OoO

"Gray! Gray, wake up!"

Gray felt something hit his head. Well, he felt three things hit his head, actually. He felt three light, ball-shaped things. He groggily opened his eyes and sat up. He saw Kai sitting at the end of the bed, next to a pile of paper balls.

"What time is it?" he groaned.

"I don't know. We don't have a clock in here." Kai shrugged. "But Cliff left early to go work at the winery, and he woke me up accidentally, and look what I found under his bed."

Gray raised his eyebrows. "What the hell were you doing under Cliff's bed?'

Kai chuckled. "Don't ask. Anyway, look what I found." He gestured to the pile of paper balls.

"What are they?" Gray asked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up properly. Kai grinned at his roommate and said, "Love letters."

"Love letters?" repeated Gray. "Love letters to whom?"

"Claire."

"Cliff's in love with Claire!" Gray exclaimed.

"Apparently so," said Kai with a nod of his head. "But the poor guy is too shy to do anything about it."

Gray looked suspiciously at Kai. "I know that look."

"What look?" Kai put on a look of innocence. "I don't have a look."

Gray sighed and rolled his eyes. "What's you're idea, Kai?"

The traveller grinned. "We put these in Claire's mailbox."

OoO

And so, that was how the scrunched up love letters ended up in Claire's mailbox. After she had read through all of them, she had pulled out her bag of birthday cards she had received, and began going through them, comparing the handwriting to that of the love letters. And she found a match. Yes, the handwriting in the card was a lot neater than the handwriting on the love letters, but it was definitely Cliff's handwriting.

"Cliff loves me?"

OoO

"YOU DID WHAT!"

When Cliff, the boy who stutters and doesn't like to talk raises his voice, you know something is up.

"We sent your love letters to Claire," Kai repeated. Cliff groaned in frustration, pacing back and forth. "Why would you do that!" he said. "Are you crazy?"

"Quite possibly," smirked Kai, but Cliff wasn't finding this funny.

"She's going to hate me," he muttered as he paced in front of the beds. "She's going to think I'm stupid and she's never going to want to speak to me a-"

"Cliff?"

Cliff clamped his hand over his moth. She was here. Claire was standing right outside the door. He would have banged his head against the wall if he didn't think that it would cause the girl to come rushing in to see if he was alright. Kai smirked, and grabbed Gray's hand.

'Have fun' he mouthed playfully to Cliff, ignoring the usually shy boy's death glare as he walked out the door. "Oh, hi Clare," he said on his way out. "Cliff's inside."

"Thanks," said the blonde, smiling, and walking inside.

"Hey… Claire…" said Cliff. The first thing he noticed was that she was holding a scrunched up piece of paper, and he mentally swore.

The pretty farmer smiled. "Hi, how are you?" Not giving him a chance to answer, she continued, holding up the paper ball. "I received a collection of these in my mailbox this morning. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"Me? Oh, nah," Cliff said, his voice cracking slightly. He was so nervous. He was convinced that she was going to hate him.

Claire's smile faltered for a second. "Oh, I thought you might have… Never mind." She turned to leave, but Cliff spoke up.

"Claire, wait!" She turned around upon hearing him. "Yes?"

"I. I-I-I-I. I l-l-l-l…"

Claire walked over to him and placed her finger on his lips. "Shh," she whispered. He was blushing now. Claire smiled. "I think the words you are looking for are 'I love you.'"

Blushing furiously, Cliff merely nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak. But Claire smiled her beautiful breathtaking smile and said, "I love you too."

She gave him a quick peck on the lips, and ran out of the room, leaving Cliff blushing furiously, his heart pounding, but thinking to himself, _I must thank Kai and Gray. _


	13. Pink

I. Have. UPDATED! You should be proud. It's eleven o'clock and I'm just about to go to bed, so I apologise now if my sleep-deprived mind made me make any ridiculously stupid spelling and grammar mistakes. Just let me know. But anyway, here you are: Another one-shot!

**Review Replies**

weirdogirl: I'm glad you liked it. I love Cliff and Kai. They're both so sweet.

Chocolate Ball: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.

don't own Harvest Moon, and I don't have pink hair. Disappointing, I know.

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**Pink **

**Word:** Pink

The twelve year old giggled excitedly as she ran towards the gates of Harvest High School, ready to start her first year there. She flicked her long, pink ponytail over her shoulder and clutched her new school books to her chest, stopping in front of the large gates that marked the entrance to the school. She could see a number of other children in there, some her age, some older. Some of them were playing with each other, other's just talking, and a few sitting alone, reading or listening to music.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up at the pretty face of her mother. Her father stood just behind her, a smile on his face. "Ready, Popuri?"

"Yes!" Popuri couldn't contain her excitement, bouncing up and down on the spot. "Can I go in now?"

Lillia smiled, and gave her daughter a hug, before nodding. "Have fun, sweety."

Popuri nodded eagerly, and turned to face her brother, who held out his hand. He couldn't for the life of him understand why on earth she was so excited about school. But, it brought a smile to his face to see his little sister happy like this. "Come on, Poppy."

"Bye mum!" Popuri called over her shoulder as Rick led her through the school gates. "Bye dad!" She saw her parents waving and smiling proudly at her before she turned around.

Rick led her to the main entrance to the school building. Popuri's rare ruby-coloured eyes widened at the sight. "It's huge," she breathed, her mouth dropping open.

"It is, isn't it," agreed Rick with a nod of his head. "This is the . . ." He paused when he heard a female voice call out his name, and he looked around.

"Over here, silly!" Rick looked in the direction of the girl's voice, and a large smile grew on his face when he recognised the girl. Karen had been his best friend all throughout primary school and for their first couple of years of high school as well. He hadn't seen her at all during the school holidays, and was eager to talk with her again. And he couldn't help but think that she had gotten more beautiful over the couple of months that they had off school. She had grown taller, now only just shorter than him, and her body was developing too. He looked her up and down, and blushed, turning back to his sister to hide it.

"You're blushing," Popuri stated.

"What? No I'm not!" Rick lied. "Anyway, classes don't start for a while, so why don't you go make friends?"

"But . . ." Popuri began, but Rick had already turned away and ran off to see his best friend. She pouted, and then looked around for someone to talk to.

Her attention was drawn to a small group of three guys sitting underneath a tree not far off. One of them, a tanned boy with a purple bandana, was talking rather loudly, and he was pretty hard to ignore. Figuring that she may as well try to make friends with these boys, she practically skipped over to them.

"So I was like . . ." The young man with the purple bandana closed his mouth when he saw the young girl skipping over to them. "Who's that?" he whispered to the boy beside him, a blonde guy with a cap that had 'UMA' written on the top.

"Isn't she Rick's little sister?" he replied.

"Ah, of course, I can see the resemblance . . . Not."

"Hi!" Popuri said cheerfully. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kai," the boy with the bandana introduced. "And that's Gray . . ." he pointed to the boy in the 'UMA' cap, ". . . and Cliff." He pointed to a boy dressed entirely in brown, who gave a shy wave as he was introduced.

"I'm Popuri Bellflower," said the pink haired girl. "I'm Rick's sister."

Kai seemed to smirk at Gray for a second. "Rick's sister? Well, why don't you sit down here and join us." He shuffled across to make space between him and Cliff, patting the ground beside him. Popuri happily agreed, taking a seat between the two boys.

"So, you're Rick's sister, hey?"

Popuri nodded her head.

"So, you used to be blonde too?"

The girl frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Well, your hair is obviously fake, so were you blonde like Rick before?" Kai asked again.

Popuri actually laughed. "Fake? No. My hair's naturally pink."

And this made Kai laugh, loudly. "Naturally pink?" he repeated. "That's ridiculous!"

"No, it's true!" Her protest made Kai laugh louder.

"So it's not a wig?" He wrapped a hand around her pink ponytail, and pulled. And she cried out in pain.

"That hurt!" she snapped, jumping to her feet. "You're horrible!" And she turned and ran off, tears welling up in her pretty eyes. She ran around the corner, and saw the female toilets. She sniffled, and ran in.

The girl looked at her reflection in the mirror, pulling the hair tie out of her hair and letting it fall naturally. Stupid, ugly, pink hair, she thought to herself. Stupid, fake-looking, ugly, pink hair.

"Popuri?"

So engrossed in her thoughts, the young girl hadn't noticed Karen walk into the bathroom. The blonde was standing a couple of metres away from her, a look of concern in her green eyes as she asked, "What happened?"

"I hate my hair," Popuri stated simply. "It's ugly, and it's stupid, and it's PINK!"

Karen took a few steps over, closer to Popuri. "That's not true, sweetie. I think your hair is a very pretty colour."

Popuri sniffed, and turned away so her back was facing Karen. But, she turned around again when Karen added, "And I think you're very beautiful too."

"B-Beautiful? Really?" Popuri asked, wiping away a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

Karen nodded. "Yep; beautiful. Now come on, shall we go find your brother?"

Popuri nodded her head and took Karen's hand as the older girl led her outside. Rick was waiting for her, and ran over when he saw Popuri's tear-stained face.

"Poppy! What happened?" He embraced his sister in a friendly hug.

"K-Kai pulled my hair and told me it looked fake," the girl answered, hugging her brother back. Rick's eyes narrowed.

"Kai. That good for nothing little . . ." He shut up when he received a glare from Karen that reminded him that his sister was only twelve. "Don't worry, Poppy, I won't let him bother you again."

"Thank you," Popuri said. After a short pause, she added, "I love you."

"I love you too."

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Yes, I know Kai was a little out of character, but he's the only person I could see doing that. Anyway, I hope you liked it, and review . . . NOW!


	14. Today

A new year means a new start, and, as one of my goals for this year is "Try to write a little bit every day", maybe, just maybe I can start updating more. Anyway, here is the next one-shot for Let Love In's Challenge. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon.

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**Today**

**Word: **Calendar

_BEEP! BEEP! BE-_

I slammed my hand down on top of the alarm clock, turning it off without breaking it like people do every morning in cartoons. And yet, miraculously, they seem to have a new alarm clock the following morning, going off at the same time for them to destroy. What, do they have a whole cupboard filled with a year's supply of alarm clocks or something? These cartoon makers don't really think too hard about their cartoons, do they?

I was awake as soon as my alarm went off, kept awake by my _entirely normal _thoughts of cartoons and alarm clocks. Because normal people totally think about that first in the morning. But I wasn't really a normal person. I was Jill the Great, farmer extraordinaire!

Well, not really. I was just plain old Jill, famer of Lavender Farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Lonely old Jill, the only girl who couldn't get a boyfriend…

I shouldn't call myself lonely. I have the greatest friends in the entire world, and I'm happy for them when they tell me about how amazing their boyfriends are. I'm happy for Celia, who got proposed to a few days ago, and I'm happy for Muffy, who claims to have finally found true love, and I'm happy for Lumina, who Rock is _always _flirting with…

Of course I was jealous. Why wouldn't I be jealous? My friends have the most amazing boyfriends in the universe, and I have no one. All the eligible bachelors are taken, anyway. All the boys have someone.

Except him.

I shook my head as I headed to the fridge to get myself something to eat for my breakfast. He was a thief. Yes, he may have been attractive and smooth-talking and I may have fallen in love with him months ago…

Wait, did I just say that I had fallen in love with him? No, no I had not! I did not love him. I was **not** in love with Skye Thiel.

But there's no use denying it, especially not to myself. As much as I tried to ignore it, I felt something for him that I haven't felt for any boys in a long time.

I wasn't like many of the other girls, who had practically fallen in love with him the second he walked over and winked, and said some flirty, "smooth" comment. I honestly hated him at first. I wanted him to die.

But I was a night person, and so was he and I just kept running into him while out walking. I'd ignore him as best I could, but he just kept trying to flirt with me.

It was about a month or two before I stopped hating him, and another two months later I began to realise that I might actually like him. A lot.

I don't know if it was because of how he acted, or because of how lonely I was. But as time went on, and as I continued to run into him at night, I couldn't ignore…

Ugh, I make myself sick sometimes. Look at me. First thing in the morning and _he _is on my mind. And I wouldn't be surprised if he was on my mind for the rest of the day. And the night. And his face would probably be the last thing I see in my mind before I fall asleep. I'm like one of those ridiculously lovesick teenagers. It's disgusting just listening to my own thoughts.

Finishing my breakfast, I gathered my things to get ready for the day. I glanced up at the calendar, not expecting any events to be on there today, but, to my surprise, there were.

A large red love heart had been drawn around today's date. I couldn't remember when I had put it there. Had I put it there at all? Well, I must have. No one else ever comes to my little house on my little farm. Except Takakura. He stops by occasionally. But he wouldn't draw a _love heart _on my calendar. I mean, EW! That's just…I don't even want to think about that.

Throughout the entire day, I thought about the calendar. I thought about it as I fed the animals. I thought about it as I watered the plants. I thought about it as I de-weeded the farm. I thought about it as I collected things to ship. I thought about it as I went to help Celia make arrangements for her wedding. And I was still thinking about it as I headed to the Blue Bar that evening for a drink.

I guess thinking about the calendar was a nice break for my mind from thinking about Skye. His face hardly even crept into my mind that day. I was too busy thinking about why in the world I had drawn a love heart on this particular date. Why today? What was so special about today? I hadn't a single clue.

Nobody thought I was acting odd whilst at the bar, staring off into the distance while thinking hard about the calendar. I probably looked exactly the same as I did on a normal day, when I'd be thinking about _him_. The day was almost over. Had I missed something important? Would one of my friends hate me forever because I forgot what was happening today? That wouldn't end well.

I finished my drink and thanked Muffy, giving her the correct payment. She looked like she was about to start talking about something, and I felt slightly guilty as I turned and left. But Muffy was talkative. Every day she'd have a new story to tell, and if you let her get started, you might not get away for an hour or so. She'd understand. I'd make up some excuse tomorrow about being tired or feeling unwell, and I'd sit and let her talk for hours, to make up for it.

I arrived home and went into the bathroom, washing my face and putting on my rather plain and boring blue pyjamas. It was time to sleep, and I guess I'd find out tomorrow if I had, in fact, forgotten something of great importance.

I stepped out of the bathroom, turned to face my bed, and screamed. I clamped my hand over my mouth a second later, not wanting Takakura to hear me and come rushing to my aid. But what was _Skye _doing, sitting on my _bed_?

I managed to say his name. I say managed because I was stuttering. Hey, you would feel uncomfortable too if you were in your pyjamas in front of Mr. Right. He smirked, responding by saying my name, much calmer than I. Oh, his voice. His soft, smooth, _sexy _voice made my heart flutter. Goddess, I'm hopeless. I'd hit myself once he left, I was sure. I regained composure, straightening up and crossing my arms over my chest.

"What are you doing here?" I wasn't stuttering. Thankfully.

He smiled that adorable smile. Oh dear, did I just call his smile adorable? "Don't you know what today is?" He nodded his head toward the calendar.

"What's today?"

"You don't know then, do you? Well, of course you don't."

"Skye, don't give me any puzzles. What is today?"

My breath caught in my throat as he stood up, walking toward me. He stopped so close that if I extended my arm, just slightly, it would brush against his. He was slightly taller than me; I had to look up to meet his gorgeous green eyes.

"Today," he murmured. "Is the day I steal your heart away."

I think my heart stopped. I just froze for a few seconds, not quite believing I had heard right. But I had. Oh Goddess he really had just said that. I must say, I was rather impressed with how well I managed to come up with a response then.

"You can't steal my heart away."

"Oh?" He looked amused. "And why is that?"

"Because…" I took a deep breath. "Because I gave it to you months ago." And before he had time to respond, I stood up on my tiptoes and did what I had wanted to do for who knows how long. I kissed him.

And it was the best feeling in the world. Especially when he kissed me back. And I found myself hoping that someday, I wouldn't be falling asleep to his face in my mind. I found myself hoping that someday, I would be waking up to him lying beside me instead, as my husband. But I was just like a lovesick teenager, wasn't I?

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As you can see, I tried a different style of writing today. I think I'll stick to my usual writing style, but I'd like to hear what you think nonetheless.

And, if you review it, and show me that you have stuck with this collection of one-shots for so long, despite my laziness, I will love you forever. :)


	15. Just a Stupid Love Song

Hello there, faithful readers. Here I am with the fifteenth and final one-shot for _Let Love In's Challenge_. I did something a little different this time, so I hope you like it. And...enjoy!

**Review Replies**

Lily Vivi Nekoyama: I'm glad you did. Thanks for reviewing.

weirdogirl: I do like cute/cheesy stories. Thanks for reviewing.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.

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**Just a Stupid Love Song **

**Word: **Love

Mary had always dreamed of being a writer. If you walked into her library, you'd almost definitely find her seated at her desk, notebook open and pen in hand. She usually wrote short stories or parts of a romance novel that she was working on. The girl was a hopeless romantic; there was no doubt about it.

But one day, she decided to try something different. She decided to write a song.

It was a hot summer's day, and she didn't expect anyone to stop by the library. More than likely, everyone would be at the beach, enjoying the feel of the cool water. She could just imagine them, the girls lying on the sand in their bikinis, whilst the boys, dressed in board shorts, played in the water, tackling each other like boys do. And probably stealing glances at the girls sunbaking. They were all very pretty…much prettier than her.

Assuming she would be alone for the day, Mary sat at the desk, writing down and crossing out lyrics, occasionally pausing to hum or sing softly, making sure it flowed together. So distracted by her writing, she didn't hear the gentle sound of the door opening and closing. She didn't notice she wasn't alone until a young woman spoke.

"What are you doing?"

She looked up quickly, snapping her notebook shut. "N-Nothing!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here, Karen?"

"I came to invite you to the music show at the church tomorrow afternoon," Karen answered, putting her hands on her hips comfortably.

"Music festival?" asked Mary. "But…I thought that wasn't until autumn…"

"Not the music _festival_, Mary, a music _show_. I was talking to Claire, who thought it would be a great idea to hold a talent show, and so we decided it'd be good fun if we had a music show. So Claire and I are going to sing, and you're totally going to come, right?"

"Of course," she answered with a smile. "It sounds like fun."

Karen smirked, and walked over to Mary's desk. "Excellent. Now…What were you doing?"

"Nothing important…"

"Oh really?"

In one quick movement, Karen had snatched the book from the desk, and had it open to the most recent page.

"Karen!" shouted Mary, but said young woman had already read enough.

"You wrote a song? Mary, that's so cute!"

"No, it's stupid, give it back." The shorter girl tried to grab the book, but Karen held it out of her reach.

"You should totally sing it tomorrow."

"No, I don't sing in front of people, full stop. Now give it back, Karen."

"Fine, fine," Karen said with a smirk, tossing the book down onto the desk. "See you tomorrow." And without another word, she left, leaving the librarian blushing with embarrassment and hugging her notebook to her chest.

OoO

Mary sat at the end of the front pew on the left, beside Jack. The music show was nearing an end, and Mary was rather glad she had chosen to come. Both Karen and Claire had sung, and they were both very good, and then Kai had done a rap, which was not as good but still made everyone laugh.

Karen stood up at the front. "And now, as our last performance today, I would like to invite to the stage…Mary!"

The librarian blinked, eyes widening. "No, I'm not singing," she said, glaring daggers at Karen.

"Aww, come on." Karen put on a pouty face. "What about that song you wrote?"

Mary blushed darkly. She could feel everyone looking at her. Jack leaned over and said, "You write songs?"

Mary looked away. "It's just a stupid love song." It's not like she could tell him that it was about him.

"Come on, Mary. Sing," said Karen.

"Mary. Mary. Mary," chanted Claire from the pew behind her, and soon almost the entire church had joined in.

"Please?" Jack asked her, giving her his cutest puppy-dog eyes. Mary sighed.

"Fine," she said as she stood up, glaring at Karen as she passed her. She took hold of the microphone, looking up at the crowd, and then down at her feet. And then, softly, she began to sing. And, though she wasn't as good as Karen, anyone would agree that her voice was beautiful.

"_You smile at me. And then I can't breathe. You take my breath away._" She tried to bring her eyes up to the crowd, but couldn't.

"_You don't realise what you mean to me, darling. But now, I think I do._" She could feel her cheeks heating up.

"_I can't deny it any more. I'm sure now that it's true. I think I am in love with you._"

She finally brought her eyes up to the crowd, and saw that they were all smiling at her encouragingly, Claire giving her two thumbs up. She couldn't look at Jack, though.

"_Because when you're with me my heart beats fast. And when you're with me I want it to last. And when you're away I wonder if you miss me. So darling please, just kiss me_.

"_I want to lie there in your arms forever. I never want to let you go. I just want us to be together, oh, just you and me, you know._"

She chanced a glance at Jack, who was smiling wider than anyone else in the room.

"_I want you to hold me tight. I want you to kiss me goodnight. I want you to call me yours._

"_Because when you're with me my heart beats fast. And when you're with me I want it to last. And when you're away I wonder if you miss me. So darling please, just kiss me._"

She was shaking a little when she looked at Jack again. And now it seemed that she was singing to him.

"_I think I love you. I think I need you. I want to be with you._

"_I think of you. I dream of you. I know I am in love with you._"

She hesitated for a moment, and then started walking forwards, to the front pew.

"_Because when you're with me my heart beats fast. And when you're with me I want it to last. And when you're away I wonder if you miss me. So darling, please, just kiss me._"

Her heart sped up, thumping loudly in her chest as she reached the front pew, standing so close to Jack.

"_So just kiss me_."

And he did.

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...**Challenge Completed**! Thanks for reading, everyone.


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